Sunday, December 11, 2005

Business Websites need to have a professional quality when it comes to displaying important information such as, about a company, what the company does, and even the location and directions on how the business can be found.

Professional Internet Marketing

Finding a business online is half the battle. The other half is getting the marketing message across. Once that message is delivered and a potential customer wants to visit your manufacturing plant or sales office, it is important to have a well designed map with detailed instructions on how to get there from any location.

A business has several options. They could have a graphic design artist create a map and then load it to the website. Another is to use one of the online mapping programs.

Professional Online Mapping Considerations

One of the keys with a professional website is to have a map that is not cluttered by a ton of advertisements from others. The best mapping service for this is the Google Maps. Although Google does display advertisements on their maps there are ways of displaying only the main address information. This can provide a clean slate so-to-speak. The mapping software can also generate directions from any location. If as a business you would like to provide links for surrounding hotels, other items of interest, or even the local Costco, additional map links can be used to show this information as well.

Other online mapping services do exist but in my opinion the others do not provide the same sort of professional online business brand that Google Maps provides.

So, if your company is a meeting place for prospects and customers it would be wise to provide a quality map that will make a good professional business impression.

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Ah, the beautiful Flash website that displays all the fancy graphics along with the mini text. I think we should call this mini marketing.

20/20 Internet Vision

Flash designed websites are typically done by the 20 year olds. Their eyes can see a needle in a hay stack a mile away. But, these designers forget who the target audience is when working for a client.

First off, the features on Flash typically become the choice for graphic design artists that have a flair with artistic images, colors, and styles. However, this does not always equate into smart marketing. I have been analyzing a number of all Flash websites and I can tell you with out a doubt that this stuff gets in the way. When I want to read what a company is about, and the font size automatically becomes smaller with the screen size; this is just not acceptable for Internet marketing of a B2B, B2C, or C2C E-business website. Because an all Flash website is all graphics in which the fonts are actually images in the source file; readers do not have the option to expand the text size. Browsers have the capabilities of displaying actual text in a larger font size simply by clicking view size but not with Flash.

Corporate America Leadership Decision Makers

Anyone over the age of forty can tell you that the eyes start going for close up work. Most of corporate America is build with over forty year olds in the upper management drivers seats. Sure we have a group of up and coming CEOs in their late twentys and early thirties, but why would you want to make it difficult for those older to read information on your website, particularly when it comes to such topics as strategic marketing or Internet marketing services. The whole aspect of these topics is targeting the decision makers, who are typically the older more seasoned corporate individuals.

Likewise, engineers and managers at various companies particularly in the manufacturing sector are older individuals that do not have the time to take the extra effort required to read small type. They want the option to be able to make it larger and be able to scan read for the pertinent information available on a website. Once that information is found then they might go back and delve deeper into the structure of a company or search for more on topic information within the company website itself.

I am not saying there are not successful businesses that use this graphic design software to really capture the attention of prospective customers but I have seen websites designed without using Flash that display the information extremely well, plus the user has the option to customize the font size to their taste.

Additionally, when it comes to SEO, Search Engine Optimization or SEM, Search Engine Marketing, building an all graphic designed site is probably not the smartest marketing advice. The problem is, the search engines have very little to feed their hungry robots. The search engine robots come to a Flash site and certainly they can store a website in a database, but it is very difficult to catalog the information. In much the same way that a user can not make the fonts larger, a robot can not fully see the information within the file itself. Search engine companies are working on ways of improving this but for now the process is still in the development stages.

Consider carefully what type of site you really want to start with. If you are considering changing your Internet brand image with a new business website, carefully way out the pros and cons of using all graphics for your B2B, B2C, or C2C website.

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Some answer it is nothing more than a jiber-jab site or a diary of personal events from the mundane to the far fetched left or right.

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If that is your only perception of a blog then you have got a lot to learn.

The term Blog refers to a website log. It was shortened to Web Log and then to BLog. The beauty of a blog is the content management system which allows anyone to add, subtract, edit, post new pages, and build a website for anything and any topic. Template designs can be customized to add site navigation, branded graphic images, color and style layout changes along with other included scripts, such as affiliate advertisements, or other types of advertising feeds such as Google Adsense.

With the strength of the built-in content management system, CEOs, Presidents, Sales and Marketing personnel can very easily post new articles for the public. Another feature of the blog is the features of allowing comments from the outside readership. Comments can be turned on or off. The general etiquette is to allow comments but there may be instances where an author of a posting might what to have it remain strictly for informational purposes.

Other features of blogs include the ability to keep it private. Businesses are using private forms of blogs to communicate and share project ideas within the Local Intranet of a company. This provides the information in a chronological fashion for the group individuals to go back and verify information from earlier dates. Scientific, Business, Real Estate; just about any group of individuals can use this feature. Blogs can even be password protected to be able to span offices and employees in far-away places.

Corporations are starting to take note. Features of this phenomena is the ability to get the marketing and advertising message out to your readership. Newsletters were the rage a few years ago and while they still have there place the new hybrid is in the form of a blog. First off, it is simple to put a link together with a short message to a group of contacts with information related to your company. Being able to layout a really nice looking page on a website has the advantage of not having to consider how large a file size you are sending in your emails. Plus, an email is a one shot deal. With the information on a website it can be referred to time and time again. Additionally, many companies are not accepting attachments in emails because of the embedded viruses making it much more difficult to get your sales message out.

Take a look to see how to utilize this sales, marketing, and advertising corporate blogging tool for your company today.

Saturday, September 03, 2005

When writing online to new customers, having a plain jane signature does not portray the same marketing impact that a creative advertising message can do for you.

Composing the message is only half the battle. WYSISWYG, "What You See Is What You Get" editors for creating an html file is the way to go.

Sure, you can compose a file in Microsoft Word html format, but the program places a whole bunch of formatting characters and does not always display the signature the way you would like in Emails received by others. Outlook has a means of composing a signature block with pictures added using another program as an html editor. View assistance videos

WYSISWYG open source programs are rivaling the Big Brothers of Macromedia Dreamweaver and Microsoft Expression Web. With the costs of Dreamweaver and Expression Web in hundreds of dollars it makes sense to check out some of the Free open source softwares available. One that I recently experimented with is Nvu. This is actually a complete web page authoring program that you can use to design a whole website. It is built for various operating systems, including MS Windows, Mac, and Linux. If you are new to website work and do not want to spend the extensive time to learn how to use one of the other commercially available applications, then downloading the Free Nvu program can be just the E ticket. Use it to design your Email marketing signature block today.

Monday, August 08, 2005

Everyday we are flooded with Online stories by their very nature that are nothing more than a ruse & search engine spam.

What ever happened to honesty, integrity, and trustworthiness? Did these three items get thrown out the Internet door? The Internet is a sea of everything from big blue whales to sharks on the attack, and every now and again a find of a long lost buried treasure with a refreshing story to share with the rest of the world.

No where in the world of marketing and advertising than on the Internet do we find such a twisted sense of salesmanship marketing and advertising ethics. If a salesman approached a company through the front door of a business with some of the stories found on the Net we would throw them out our front door for wasting our time, not to mention the blatant falsehood on many of these business claims found Online. (That is saying it nicely)

Honesty, integrity, and trustworthiness take time to establish. Building a relationship build on these three principals is a key strategy to establishing lifelong business relationships.

Consumers are quick to remember where good service can be found. Likewise Business-to-business, B2B customer services built with a strong and wide three legged foundation are very sturdy. B2Bs will stand the test of time and can balance without rocking.

Honesty should be at the forefront of any strategic relationship. Promising more than what can be delivered will push a company off an approved vendor list faster than you can say "".

Integrity in action is a key foundational leg. This is such a simple word but only through the "sands of time" does it prove out. Following through on what is said. If a business continually is caught in lie after lie, or using a form of legalese to cover up underhanded operations, then we can forget about integrity with a company like: "Search Engine Data Merging"

Trustworthiness is the strongest of all. This envelops the whole company in its entirety. It starts at the top and permeates down through the ranks. If the CEO or President is not trustworthy then neither will the company that he or she operates.

Many organizations today laugh at this type of business philosophy. In fact, even Wall Street is quick to dismiss these attributes in business. Maybe that is because there is this get rich quick scenario even from the Wall Street Insiders. With such a demand for short term gains by the large Institutions that hold large voting blocks of shares of corporations, is it any wonder that we have thrown out Honesty, Integrity, and Trustworthiness.

More companies would do well to incorporate these three Free strategic keys to an Online success. Contact us for a Free Services, Strategies, and Solutions analysis of your business today.

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

B2B or Business to business marketing and advertisement strategies require a thorough understanding of at least two key perspectives.

Knowing your business is not the same as marketing your business.

Many principal owners know their business inside and out and can share technical information with customers like it is the back of their hand. But, when it comes to actual Internet marketing AND Online Advertisement strategies they do not have a clue where to begin. Don't feel bad if you fall into this category.

Sharing the technical knowledge is a key component especially when it comes to the online written word. Keeping it locked away only to be unlocked when showing a potential client what your company has done is not the best use of the information. I am not referring to the sharing of intellectual property which should always be regarded with protection in-mind. It is possible to share more of the generalities with out giving away any trade secrets.

Understanding your potential business clients

What would a customer be searching for to find what it is that your company does? That keywords search question needs to be addressed with very specific answers. Just saying a potential client would be doing a search engine keyword search for towers is not very specific. Is it a New hotel tower, a resort, talk about the Twin Towers, or none of the above. "Antenna Towers", well what about them? Does the person searching want to build, design, buy one, rent space for cellular communications, or send one into outer space? No, I am not really trying to be funny here, but it is important to understand your clients.

Now, here is the really important part of this whole connection between the client and you, the business owner.

Sharing information with the content manager for your business website

It is important not to assume anything here. After all, who knows your business better than YOU. The content manager may be the most important link that you have on the Internet. A good content manager will have a thorough understanding of the technical side of the web in addition to having Internet marketing, online Pay per click Advertising, PPC, Search engines, algorithms knowledge, and an understanding of online branding.

A B2B important point to always consider is how ethical is this person? Remember, this person is going to be representing you. Whatever is published on the website will be a reflection of the company itself. Content that is not correct can cause dire ramifications from false advertising lawsuits to stolen intellectual property or a copyright infringement lawsuit. Even if this does not occur, doing irresponsible search engine techniques can cause websites to become Web unlisted. Becoming unlisted on the Web when you are trying to reach the largest site targeted audience as possible is not an ideal marketing ethics situation.

Friday, June 24, 2005

Subscribing to newsletters can be an excellent source for staying up to date with an industry. Subscribing to news can even be better from a strategic marketing standpoint.

Staying abreast of the changes going on in technology today can be a real challenge. Keeping track of those changes can be even harder.

I read a recent newsletter about an entrepreneur that got started in an Internet marketing business for $25 and turned it into a $7.6 million year enterprise. He was tragically in a car accident but his partner talked about how he was an avid reader and business note-taker.

While information in many newsletters must be filtered and analyzed with a degree of skepticism because to a large extent many of these supply a person with a teaser and want you to buy something else which may or may not be good for your business.

Subscribing to News

With the Internet at our fingertips it is very easy to use some great tools for information on any industry. A tool that very seldom gets talked about but may be one of the hottest commodities on the Internet is the Google News news service front page. The page can be custom tailored to any industry and have it delivered to your Window with automatic updates by the minutes. As you read the current events a person can even create search news email alerts that will send an email with a small encapsulated headline view for later scan viewing or in-depth reading.

So, if your industry is about antenna designing, memory module manufacturing, real estate, sales and marketing, advertising, or any industry related to a particular field take advantage of this tool and encourage your sales people too.

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

In today's ONLINE GLOBAL MARKETING & CREATIVE ADVERTISING world a website can not please everyone.

There are many websites that are very structured in their layout and provide services that become very familiar with the regular visitors. This can be excellent for a dedicated service or services provided for a global group of people. Other sites are much freer flowing in their layout and structure including a sense of artistic design.

As always, the most important questions to ask yourself when setting up or adding content to your website is, "Who is my target audience? What am I trying to portray?"

Sometimes online organizations crossover many geographic and cultural bounds. Even individual pages can have a different sense of style depending on the subject matter at hand. Taking into account the literary pictures that are created in the minds of individuals and implementing this into a artistic style to accentuate and drive home a technology idea can really make a huge marketing impact. It's important to have 2020 Business Vision.

In a world where there are billions of websites with online copyright protection it is imperative that you have a design with unique content and a style that is you or your business. Creating this content can be a challenge but it is necessary for a strong online presence.

Many organizations feel that all their pages on their website must have the same "look and feel" with a menu system in the same spot on the page. These organizations picture their site as a book with chapter and page numbers for people to explore. While many sites may in fact be well versed for this type of publishing others would be much better served by taking a more artistic license and get creative in their marketing approach.

I believe that most sites are more like a LAN "local area network" setup. Every computer in a local network is connected through a hub or router to the others via a cable or wireless link. Each computer has a different personality but is part of the whole. Likewise a site is made up of individual pages with unique intellectual property with links that stretch out to other related but different cells of online information. While a person could clone each and every page to have the same graphics "look and feel" but with different content this would get rather boring for a reader after awhile.

So, if you really want to get creative, take a look at what your business does and who it serves, then jot a few intellectual property thoughts down. Develop these into more detailed concepts and tell your story. Then use the story for internet marketing and online advertising concepts related to your field.

Monday, June 06, 2005

To become effective in sales and marketing requires a thorough understanding of the product or services represented.

internet marketing homework required

There are a number of ways that I have found my customers learning information about the end user products. One way that really has been helpful is to subscribe to online newsletters related to a specific industry.

Some B2B clients require detailed knowledge from everything from cell phone and antenna systems to nano technology. The technology used is integrated into the fabrication process of a wide range of products.

Sales and marketing today requires more reading then ever before. Technology is changing so fast that without staying up-to-date the technology may pass you by.

While our clients subscribe to ezines & read online newsletters, our company also needs to stay up to date with the same information from a sales and marketing point of view for their websites. It is not enough to just know a few of the keywords and key phrases cataloged by search engines but to have a more intimate knowledge of what the client does and who their customers are. This information can be extremely useful when it comes to advertising, editing, or copywriting for a customer's website.

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Every so often comes a tool that is really cool for marketing, advertising, and branding strategies.

Maybe you do not have the bucks to pay a graphic design artist to come up with some headings or logos for your brochures or website. Or maybe you are not willing to invest in an expensive graphic design software program. Even if you buy the program, it can take forever to learn it and all you wanted were some headings or some cool stuff to spice up that sales presentation. Well, now you can do it for free.

Check out the program below. Try it out. Type in your company name or products you sale. Experiment with the font type, size, and style. Save your graphic design image on your own local computer.

Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Recently a customer needed to find old photos and drawings of equipment on their server. He was opening folders one at a time clicking on each file and searching. Can you relate? I sure could.

Well, with in a few mouse clicks and going on the Internet I downloaded this nifty program "Picasa", that catalogs and searches the photo contents of your computer and displays the photos and graphics in a super cool looking display that can be viewed in a timeline or by folder name. Not only did it catalog the photos from the computer we were using but with a few more clicks of the mouse we had it scan the whole network. All be a "sun of a gun" it found what he was searching for, and then some more.

I have found this program to be one of the best photo handling programs out there. But, it does not stop there. It has the capabilities to edit your photos like a pro. Below is a small example of what it can do.

The Art Of Branding

There are tons of applications for this in the B2B and the B2C world. Imagine you need to be able to display a whole bunch of technical drawings or machine pictures quickly to someone around the world. With just a few clicks you could place it easily on a site (blog) that you could create in ten minutes, free of charge. There are even the capabilities of outputting a group of photos in a slide show format for a web site or on a CD disk.

The customer was very impressed and got a kick out of seeing all the long lost and forgotten. Take it from this picture taker, I suggest you check it out.